Earth First! The radical environmental journal, Vol. 36, no.1, 2016

2016·119.9 MB·English

by  Earth First!

SPRING 2016 $6.50
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Eostar 2016
There are too many single acts of destruction and too many against coal company RWE in Germany's Hambach Forest
new methods of ecocide being invented to even wrap ones continue to escalate. Despite most of Finland's Hanhikivi Cape
head around, much less stop. There is so much bad shit going having been clearcut for a nuclear plant, activists with the No
on in the world that I often forget winning can happen at all. Fennovoima campaign fight the plant's construction day in and
For the past year, we at the Journal have been watching our day out, and invite you to join them.
city government turn the beautiful "dead end" dirt road next to Of course, there are many losses as well. The Porter Ranch
our office into a paved street. Our resistance has been liberal, methane leak going uncapped for months. NGOs turning
at best. We spoke up at their city commission meeting, pres­ resistance to the COP21 into a theater skit. Environmental
suring them to delay the vote. A month later we met with the groups selling out Canada's wilderness. Climate change. Call-
Mayor, the City Manager, neighbors, and other city planners out culture. Donald Trump. It's easy to be cynical, defeatist—
in the middle of that dirt road, played the part of the radical to only hear the chainsaws right outside our windows. What's
wingnut neighbors—demanded that nothing be cut or paved difficult is allowing ourselves to have hope, or to be inspired,
while other residents pushed for a two-lane highway. The city and to keep resisting. The No New Animal Lab campaign has
compromised, agreeing to replace the dirt and trees with a one­ not stopped the animal testing laboratory at the University of
way street. Washington from being built—but in a single year they have
At the office, we raised our eyes from the Newswire to managed to motivate more people to be active for animals than
the sound of chainsaws; Journal members and guests— any other current campaign in this country, and it's because
some Earth Firstlers who can walk old-growth forests in the they are looking to the future, and fighting to win. We must do
Pacific Northwest that are still standing because of their tree the same, despite the shit falling down all around us. This issue
platforms—stood and watched as five epic, humbling, shade- has many call-outs for future events and actions—days where
and life-giving Australian pines were killed and carted off a few we can mobilize together, to remember our strength. Whether
feet from our driveway. We cleaned and reused coffee filters, it's the next EF! Rendezvous, Rebel! Rebuild! Rewild!, anti-
dumpstered produce, and rode our bicycles while construction mining day, Earth Night, or June 11, there is plenty to look
crews ripped up the earth outside. We published magazines, forward to, and plenty of ways to strike together and alone. To
newsletters, and online articles about sabotage and arson while resist because destruction is happening; not doing the math,
a bulldozer sat silently outside our windows each night. We weighing the odds—just believing that we can win, and that if
composted, planted seeds, and shared dripping homegrown we don't, that we lived through trying.
fruit while they struck the water lines and sent out notices The other day, folding chairs were placed beneath a big
that we must boil our water before drinking. We screamed and white tent at an intersection a few houses down from our
wrote nasty emails as they poured the asphalt. We didn't even office. It was a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newly-paved
write messages in the concrete as the sidewalk dried. one-way street. We had lost, and they were shoving it in our
Pick your battles, I told myself. Be strategic; cost/benejit analysis; faces. Though it was too late, it's never too late. Two folks
limited resources; security culture. So many excuses. With an went to the ceremony as it was starting; one sat on a folding
endless number of potential fights, locally and internationally, chair, one stood nearby with a camera. Two more Journal folks
it seemed wrong—almost petty—to risk ourselves and, more climbed onto the roof of our office with a bent trombone. As
importantly, the Journal itself over a short dirt road in a the ceremony began, flat, obnoxious, wailing notes of heart-
suburban sprawl. But we couldn't help thinking of the Eugene wrenching agony poured across the alley and onto the hesitant
Journal staff in the trees back in '97. Of Jim Flynn getting smiles of the city government. A hand raised from a folding
canister after canister of pepper spray unloaded on his testicles. chair, asked the Mayor what she had to say about the unsafe
Somewhere rattling in my head—like a wingnut at a meeting construction practices of the companies she hired to destroy
with the Mayor—another voice was calling out, but being the old dirt road. There was nothing we could do—it was
stifled: No compromise. Biocentrism. Direct action. built—but her face, the sound of air escaping her throat as she
But while this example of our real and metaphorical failures deflated, was something.
was beeping, scraping, banging, and sawing outside our office Police were called, and they questioned some of us on our
windows, something else, something more promising, was hap­ intent. The words "disturbing" and "peace" were used together
pening inside. As the Eostar 2016 issue grew, we realized that many times in quick succession. A member of local govern­
its most prominent theme was a concept we had almost forgot­ ment called code enforcement on our office in retaliation for
ten about: victory. the interruption. Four violations: We now have two weeks to
Yes, there are some straight-up wins in this issue. Hunt cut back the plants from our fences, re-position an old RV,
saboteurs in Scotland have succeeded in protecting seals clean up the trash (furniture) from our yard, and fix a fence.
through a three-year ban on salmon netting. Activists in One of our prisoner pen pals suggests we refuse on religious
Denmark have pushed a fracking company out of the entire grounds. Maybe we will.
country. Folks in Canada are shutting off tar sands pipelines in
rapid-fire succession. And beside these tangible victories, there Until the next fight, big or small,
are people ignoring the odds and fighting harder than ever. In —Rabbit
the face of repression, and after years of fierce resistance, actions
EARTH FIRST! JOURNAL 111 EOSTAR 2016
features
05 | Fighting to Win:
Choking Out the Rig Pigs, One Pipeline at a Time
111 Concerning the Hambach
by some anarchist
1£| | Severing the Arteries: sections
A Call for Attacks on the Railroad System
by Skeptic
011 Editorial
22 | Total Pulls Out of Vendsyssel:
No Fracking in Denmark! 101 Wolves & Poodles
by Rockslide
191 Dear Ned Ludd
23 | The Storm that Will Not Pass:
A No New Animal Lab Update' Blast from the Past:
201
Tasmanian Activists
28 | Stopping the Scottish Seal Slaughter
Blockade Timber Train
by Jenny Green
501 Bioregional Roundup
33 | The Dangerous Entitlement of Western Ranchers
by Rat 611 From the Cages
64 | Letters from the cages:
36 | A Whiff of Methane and the Odor of Coruption
Debbie Vincent, Chuck Africa
by Brett Redmayne-Titley
65 | Trans Prisoners Day of
IJ2 | The Climate Movement is Dead:
Action and Solidarity
A Reportback from the UN C0P21 in Paris
by Ducky Slowcode 681 Armed with Visions
£|5 | Persona Non Grata 701 Reviews
by Sasha Ross and Ben Jones
731 Dear Shit fer Brains
52 | A Note to People in Positions of Relative Privilege
Working Against Oppression in the Radical Movement 771 News from the Eco-Wars
by Brenna Bell
881 Eco-Action Group Directory
66 | The Forest Story
by Ukiah
reportbacks calls to action
47 I Rebel! Rebuild! Rewild! 2015 Reportback 54 | 2016 Earth First! Round River Rendezvous
and Call for R!R!R! 2016
by RIRIR! Organizing Committee 55 | Declaration from Oaxaca:
48 | 2016 EF! Organizers Conference July 22, Anti-Mining Day
by W/7ey Cypress translated by Fen
56 | Reclaim the Cape Action Week
April 22-May 1, 2016, in Pyhajoki, Finland
by Stop Fennovoima
58 | Renewing the Spirit of June 11:
Eco-Prisoner Support and Eco-
Resistance to Prisons
by Fight Toxic Prisons
Earth First! Journal
some image credits
VOL. 36 NO. 1 • EOSTAR
{SPRING 2016}
The Earth First! Journal is published by an editorial col­ Front cover: "Desert Lights" by Amir Baigmoradi. Taken in Barstow, California,
lective from within the Earth First! movement. Art, articles, 2013. BAIGMORAOI.COM
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F i g h t i n g
W i n
to
Choking Out the Rig Pigs,
One Pipeline at a Time
It is 2016, and the struggle continues against the abomina­
tion known as the tar sands. I'm happy to report that the com­
bined force of indigenous land defenders and the environmen­
tal movement have so far been able to keep a chokehold on new
pipeline projects, save one. The northern leg of the Keystone
XL is dead, Northern Gateway is as good as dead, Energy East
is looking less and less likely, and the Trans-Mountain pipeline
remains in limbo. Due to the collapse of oil prices, the boom
is most definitely over in Alberta. There have been thousands
of layoffs, major projects have been cancelled, companies are
losing money hand over fist, and it is only a matter of time
before the new economic reality strangles many more projects
to death.
That is to say: We are winning. This is a war of attrition,
and we are wearing those bastards down. Our strategy has al­
ways been to chisel away at the profitability of the tar sands by
slowing them down, discouraging investment, affecting their
bottom line, and blocking their access to tidewater. It will ap­
pear to some, when they look back on the great crash of the
Athabasca tar sands in Alberta, that it was the invisible hand of
the market at work. Only those who were paying close atten­
tion will know to what extent our movement was responsible
for stopping the spread of this cancer.
For now, the critical battleground in the war against the tar
sands is Enbridge's Line 9. The almost 40-year-old pipeline is
now pumping crude from Sarnia to Montreal. If left uninter­
rupted, Line 9 would allow the expansion of the tar sands by
providing an export market for diluted bitumen. It puts the
drinking water of millions at risk and exacerbates the slow in­
dustrial genocide known as Chemical Valley, a hub of more
than 60 refineries that surround the heavily-polluted Aamji-
wnaang First Nation. Line 9 is also part of a larger plan to
export bitumen out of Portland, Maine, which would require
an expansion of the Portland Montreal Pipeline, also in limbo. December 3, 2015: Activists manually
Despite a years-long, hard-fought campaign against Line 9, shut off Enbridge's Line 9 pipeline in
the first of a string of similar actions.
which employed a diversity of tactics, from lobbying to legal
EARTH FIRST! JOURNAL | 5 | EOSTAR 2016
tells them that he is closing the valve. This is filmed by a jour­
nalist co-conspirator. The whole valve and the ground start
vibrating. To avoid a potential explosion, the valve is opened
slightly. The ground continues to vibrate, and the sound of
pressurized flow is audible.
0730—Patricia Domingos, ex-mayor of Sainte-Justine-de-
Newton, shows up. She has been very active in the fight against
Enbridge for over three years and is completely delighted about
what is happening. For the rest of the day she acts as spokes­
person. Because Enbridge still has not showed up, she calls the
emergency number a second time. Incredibly, she can't reach
anyone who speaks French. Enbridge takes her name and num­
Map of Enbridge's Tar Sands Pipeline Plan from Environ­ ber and tells her they'll call her back.
mental Defence Canada
0824—Ontario Provincial Police show up. Hilariously, they
battles to direct action, Line 9 transported crude to a refinery have no idea what is going on; they were just showing up to tell
in Montreal on December 3, 2013. On December 7, we shut someone to move their car, which was parked in a church park­
it down. Mainstream media reported that Enbridge shut down ing lot. When they figure out what's happening, they express
Line 9 as a "precautionary measure," but we know better. We their gladness that the valve is on the Quebec side of the border,
closed the valve manually. I was part of a group that broke hence not their problem. They leave the scene.
their locks, called Enbridge, and then closed the valve. Then we
locked ourselves to it tising Kryptonite U-locks reinforced with Approx. 0830—Second affinity group (larger than the first)
steel. This is historic: To our knowledge, this was the first time shows up and begins setting up tents, hanging banners, film­
that activists manually shut down a pipeline. Who would have ing, tweeting, and being an awesome support team.
thought it could be so simple?
The day of the action, Enbridge stock plunged eight percent. Approx. 0845—A francophone Enbridge employee calls Ma­
For a company worth almost 60 billion dollars, that's about 4.8
dame Domingos and finally they get the message. They tell her
billion dollars.
that the pipeline isn't closed, that everything's showing up as
There was a definite sense of exuberance following the ac­ normal on their monitoring system. Take a second to let that
tion. One of the notable successes is how this shut-off, which
sink in. What does that say about their much-hyped high-tech
many people would consider radical, enjoyed broad support. It security measures?
was organized by anarchists but was publicly supported by citi­
zens groups and the ex-mayor of the town where it took place. Approx. 0900—Activists unlock and the valve is firmly closed.
This whole action was also a test of Canada's new anti-ter­ The vibration reaches a fever pitch, but once the valve is
rorism law, C-51, which expands the definition of terrorism wrenched as far as humanly possible to the right, the vibration
to include tampering with critical infrastructure, i.e. pipelines. stops altogether. Activists lock back onto the valve.
Our line of thinking was this: If they charged us with terrorism,
they'd be saying that a large segment of the population supports 0917—Cops from the Surete de Quebec (the SQ—Quebec's
terrorism, and the state would lose the usefulness of the terror­ militarized national police) arrive.
ism label to demonize an isolated political element.
There's no question that this action breathed new life into 1002—Enbridge employees arrive.
the anti-Line 9 campaign, which NGOs long ago abandoned
as unwinnable. For the first time in a long while, militants are 1120—An Enbridge employee, flanked by SQ officers, reads a
fighting to win.
statement in French ordering activists to leave the area.
In the aim of spreading accurate, in-depth information about
this action, I present to you the most detailed account of events
1353—The "specialist' team arrives. Whatever they're special­
available. Its my hope that this inspires you magickal elves out ists in, it's not cutting locks. The next few hours are a comedy
there to get yerselves a-plottin'.
of errors on the part of the police.
Timeline of action:
1422—SQ establishes a perimeter and tells media to go to the
road. Media leave initially, but are back minutes later and con­
0615—First affinity group arrives at site. They unload supplies tinue to film at a close distance for the rest of the day. The
from vehicles and move them off-site.
crowd of supporters also remains close at hand, maintaining an
unruly and bold presence throughout the action. Fortunately,
0645—Jean Leger calls the Enbridge emergency number and no supporters were arrested.
|6|
Around this same time, the two activists locked to the valve
superglue their locks shut. From this moment on, they no lon­
ger have any ability to unlock themselves. People begin to sing,
and the sun comes out.
The activist locked to the fence is arrested, to raucous cheer­
ing, singing, and chanting. He is taken into custody and re­
leased about an hour and a half later.
During an attempt to handcuff one of the activists locked to
the valve, another valve that is part of the infrastructure sprays
oil all over the place. All hell breaks loose at this point. One December 21, 2015: Activists in Anishnaabe
woman rushes towards the cage and is knocked down by cops. territory shut down Line 9 again.
The intensity of the crowd reaches a climax. The cops seem gen­
uinely scared at this point, as they suddenly realize that they're
in a potentially explosive situation. These words gained new meaning on December 21, when
The crowd begins chanting for paramedics and firefighters three comrades on Anishnaabe territory near Aamijiwnaang
to be brought to the scene, taunting the police for their in­ First Nation shut down Line 9 again, with a clear anti-colonial
competence. Police stop trying to extract the two people still message denouncing the oil industry for environmental rac­
locked down, and the jubilant crowd breaks into song, which ism. They locked down under a banner that read "Enbridge
continues for a long time. This is the energetic high-point of an Represents Colonial Violence." One of the womyn who locked
already awesome day. down was an Anishnaabe land defender by the name of Vanessa
Gray/who has been a major voice against Line 9, the tar sands,
Approx. 1600 or 1630—Firefighters arrive with a whole bunch and Chemical Valley throughout this whole campaign. She ex­
of heavy-duty equipment and break the valve, hauling the two pressed her motive thusly: "It's clear that tar sands projects rep­
remaining activists away with U-locks still on their necks. resent an ongoing cultural and environmental genocide. I de­
fend the land and water because it is sacred. I have the right to
Approx. 1700 or 1730—Enbridge employees move in and im­ defend anything that threatens my traditions and culture." The
mediately open the valve. three activists were charged with some pretty heavy charges,
including "Mischief Endangering Life," which comes with a
One of the activists who locked down refused to sign off on maximum sentence of life in prison.
non-association conditions, but when he was brought to jail Since these two public actions, a campaign of sabotage has
he was denied entry because he had a lock around his neck! begun. Twice now, brave militants have acted clandestinely,
He spent the night at the police station and was released the shutting down Enbridge's Line 7 pipeline on January 3, and
following day, with no non-association conditions. both Line 7 and Line 9 on January 25. Both of these attacks
Speaking as a participant, this action was definitely a high issued communiques:
point in my activism career. The support was absolutely in­
credible, the solidarity expressed through song and action was January 3:
beyond beautiful, and everything about the entire day seemed
Sometime in the night of January 3rd, 2016, individuals
to unfold according to the benevolent whims of some trickster
stole into the dark near so-called Cambridge and used a man­
god. A few days after the action, I wrote:
ual pipeline valve to restrict the flow of Enbridge's Line 7. We
It was a great success, in that we come out of it feeling then applied our own locking devices to delay response time...
stronger than we went into it. We're anarchists and we see This action was undertaken to show our ever lasting love
struggles against pipelines as a part of a broader struggle. We and support to the brave folks who've taken similar actions
fight for the terrain of the imagination. If our action inspires in the traditional territories of the Huron-Wendat, Mohawk,
others, if it causes them to see resistance as viable, if it causes and Anishinaabek people.
them to brainstorm new tactics, we will be content that we Further, we take action to counter the new narrative of
are contributing to a great drama, a story that does not begin the state; to swing back at the grossly inflated charges those in
or end with us. The value of this struggle lies not only in its Sarnia received, and show that we will not be cowed.
immediate aims, but in its ability to bring people together in We fight for the land and water; and we fight for our lives.
the spirit of defiance, creating a culture of resistance that will We will always fight back, whether it's with the sun warm­
grow over the course of years. Our project is nurturing that ing our faces, or the moonlight to guide us.
spirit of determination, and disseminating our ideas widely, Join us.
so that they might take root where they will, so that as the
effects of the age of crisis we live in become increasingly dire, January 25:
a culture of resistance will emerge that is able to survive and
thrive independent of the state andfossilfuel economy. ...we took this action to stand in unity with all those who
EARTH FIRST! JOURNAL 17 | EOSTAR 2016
have defended the land before us, and for those who decide to less likely now than it might be in the future. Also, I imagine
take action after us. We take it to fight against an industry that that the recent actions have caused increased vigilance in En-
puts us at risk every day and subjects frontline communities bridge's pipeline-monitoring control centre. For those of you
to violence upon their bodies, communities and cultures—for who wish to learn more, there is a fair amount of useful infor­
profit. We believe that's worth fighting against; that those peo­ mation that can be found online. Check out DISSEMINATION.
ple and communities are worth fighting for. So call us what NOBLOGS.ORG and PIPELEAKS.ORG.
you will, but we only do what is both necessary and right. Our Stopping future pipelines will be far easier than Line 9. Be­
actions hurt none, but a lack of action hurts everyone. May cause Line 9 was already in the ground, there were fewer sites
we all find the courage to actively resist & destroy exploitative of intervention, and this was also the first campaign of its kind
capitalist industrial projects. Fuck Enbridge, fiuck the tarsands, in our bioregion. Our movement is growing—of that there is
andfuck all pipelines... no doubt. It seems likely to me that if we are able to shut down
Line 9, the rest of the export pipelines will go poof.
Every action like this costs Enbridge money and increases the There is also a chance that Line 9 could be shut down if Can­
whole mood of uncertainty surrounding the tar sands industry. ada's Supreme Court rules in favour of the Chippewas of the
After the January 25 action, an Enbridge spokesperson said: Thames First Nation, who have been fighting Line 9 in court
"We are taking additional permanent security measures at valve for a long time. In recent years, the Supreme Court has ruled
sites to help discourage such activities. We would not discuss in favour of indigenous rights in some surprising ways, and the
details publicly since that would risk reducing the effectiveness Chippewas of the Thames have a strong case. There has recent­
of those measures." ly been some great news on this front—after being pressured
Reality check: The vast network of Enbridge pipelines by anarchists, Quebec NGO Coule Pas Chez Nous donated
criss-crossing Turtle Island is far too large to be effectively sur- $10,000 to help with the Supreme Court challenge.
veilled. Also, since it is one of our goals to cost them money, I think that I would be remiss to write an article about the
we can count every dollar they spend on security guarding their tar sands with a solely celebratory tone. As Vanessa Gray said,
valves and investigating us as another strike against them. the tar sands are an ongoing act of genocide. Their existence is
There will never be a better time to shut down Line 9 than to be mourned deeply. As anyone who has been to Chemical
2016. Enbridge has said that, for the entire year, they will be Valley knows, we have a long, long way to go. Even if they
running Line 9 below capacity, making an explosion or spill were to shut down the tar sands tomorrow, the damage that has
been done is irreparable. The famous tailings ponds that can be
seen from space are leaking every day, poisoning the Athabasca
T R River, the communities downstream, and the ocean. Every day
that this grievous assault on us all continues, the future is fur­
ther impoverished.
What's more, as the money from the tar sands dries up, com­
panies may well implement cost-cutting measures that decrease
safety. Nexen's 70,000 barrel-per-day Long Lake in-situ facility
recently closed after two accidents—a massive bitumen spill
and an explosion that killed two people. I suspect that both
these tragedies may have resulted from attempts to lower costs,
and that Long Lake was shut down because Nexen realized
that their cost-cutting was going to end up costing them more
in the long run. As pipeline infrastructure falls into disrepair,
there will likely be an increase in accidents. It would be stra­
tegic to cause the most uproar possible if and when such inci­
dents occur.
Lastly, Line 9 is currently online, and for every day that it is
operational, a time bomb ticks on. Disabling it permanently
will require a stark escalation on the part of militants. Who
amongst you will answer this call? For those of you who en­
tered this world desiring to prove your courage, fate beckons.
Think of a river that you love and feel the sickness of the world.
Are you willing to do what is necessary? You to whom these
words whisper in the language of destiny, know this: When one
risks all for the benefit of life, one performs the ultimate act of
love, and their reward will be beautiful beyond reckoning.
Michigan Coalition Against Tar Sands activists protesting the We have before us a window of possibility, and there is no
Stockbridge Enbridge construction site in July 2015. telling how long it will be open. Our force is now multiplied
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